The Nomad Kitchen Roasted Garlic & Fresh Herb Pesto is a lush, bright, sweet-savory garden sauce made with five heads of mellow roasted garlic, armfuls of fresh basil, cilantro and parsley, Meyer lemon, honey, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes and extra-virgin olive oil. Somewhere between pesto and chimichurri, this fresh, garlicky condiment makes almost everything more delicious—from salmon, shrimp and grilled meats to vegetables, eggs, potatoes and warm crusty bread. A wonderful alternative for garlic lovers who prefer the mellow sweetness of roasted garlic to raw. Fresh herbs, golden garlic and a little Nomad Kitchen magic from Tré Taylor at tretaylor.com.
Five Heads of Golden Roasted Garlic, Armfuls of Fresh Garden Herbs, Meyer Lemon & a Kiss of Honey
🌿🧄🍋🍯
There are some recipes you plan—and then there are the delicious little accidents that become keepers forever.
This one was born during a quiet week of pet sitting, when I found myself in a beautiful kitchen with an abundance of gorgeous fresh basil, cilantro and parsley. I roasted five whole heads of garlic in olive oil until the cloves became golden, buttery and sweet, then whirled them together with all those fresh herbs, good olive oil, flaky salt, cracked pepper, a little red chile, rice vinegar and just enough honey to make the whole thing sing.
Then came the Meyer lemon.
Oh, baby.
That bright little squeeze of citrus woke up every herb in the bowl. What emerged wasn't quite traditional pesto and wasn't quite chimichurri—it was something all its own: lush, fresh, garlicky, slightly sweet, tangy, herbaceous and ridiculously spoonable.
And here's the wonderful part for those of us who've discovered that our bodies don't appreciate raw garlic quite as enthusiastically as they once did: the garlic is completely roasted. All that sharp raw bite melts away, leaving behind mellow, savory, almost caramelized garlic deliciousness.
Keep a jar in the refrigerator and suddenly yesterday's chicken isn't yesterday's chicken anymore. Spoon it over salmon, shrimp, steak, roasted vegetables, eggs or potatoes. Swirl it into soup. Toss it with pasta. Spread it on warm crusty bread. Mix a spoonful into mayo or yogurt and you've got another sauce entirely.
It even gets better after a day or two, when the roasted garlic, herbs, lemon, honey and vinegar have had a chance to fall madly in love.
Fresh herbs. Golden garlic. A little sweetness. A little heat. And one beautiful jar that makes almost everything you cook taste better.
Welcome to The Nomad Kitchen. 🌿✨
Makes: approximately 4–5 cups Prep: 15 minutes Roasting: 40–50 minutes Difficulty: Easy Category: Condiments & Delicious Things
🛒 Ingredients
For the roasted garlic
5 large whole heads garlic
One tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil over each head of garlic
Flaky sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
For the fresh herb pesto
2 packed cups fresh basil leaves
2 packed cups fresh Italian parsley
2 packed cups fresh cilantro
½ cup honey
½ cup rice vinegar
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
Juice of 1 Meyer lemon, approximately 2–3 tablespoons
½–1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1–2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, optional but wonderful
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, then more to taste
Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper
Approximately 1–1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil, or enough to reach your preferred consistency
🌿 Optional Garden Addition
Add ½ cup fresh mint leaves if you have them.
Mint gives the sauce another bright herbal note without overpowering the basil, parsley and cilantro.
🔥 Roast the Garlic
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Slice approximately ¼ inch from the top of each garlic head, exposing the cloves while leaving the bulb intact.
Place the heads on parchment, foil or in a small baking dish.
Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with flaky salt and cracked pepper.
Wrap loosely in foil or cover the baking dish and roast for approximately 25 minutes, until the cloves are completely tender, fragrant and golden.
Allow them to cool enough to handle.
Then squeeze those gorgeous soft cloves directly from their skins.
What comes out should almost resemble garlic butter.
🌱 Make the Herb Pesto
Add the roasted garlic to a large food processor.
Add:
🌿 basil 🌿 parsley 🌿 cilantro 🍯 honey 🍚 rice vinegar 🍋 Meyer lemon zest and juice 🌶️ red pepper flakes 🧂 salt ✨ cracked black pepper 🥄 Dijon, if using
Pulse several times until everything begins breaking down.
With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
Continue until the herbs are finely chopped and everything becomes glossy, lush and almost emulsified.
You can leave it slightly textured or take it farther until it becomes an intensely green, spoonable sauce.
👩🍳 The Nomad Kitchen Rule
Taste it before deciding it’s finished.
Fresh herbs vary enormously.
Maybe yours needs more lemon.
Maybe another tablespoon of honey.
Maybe another pinch of salt.
Maybe considerably more olive oil.
The final sauce should hit several notes at once:
fresh + garlicky + slightly sweet + bright + savory + gently acidic + a whisper of heat.
Nothing should shout louder than everything else.
🍋 Why Meyer Lemon Makes It Magic
The rice vinegar gives this pesto beautiful gentle acidity, but lemon does something different.
It adds fragrance.
That citrus oil in the zest wakes up the basil, cilantro and parsley and cuts beautifully through the richness of the roasted garlic and olive oil.
If you have Meyer lemon, use it.
Regular lemon is completely lovely too.
🧄 Why Roasted Garlic?
This may be my favorite part of the recipe.
As I've gotten older, I've discovered that raw garlic and raw onion don't always love me nearly as much as I love them.
Roasting changes garlic dramatically.
Its aggressive raw bite becomes soft, mellow, slightly sweet and wonderfully savory.
So for anyone who finds raw garlic increasingly difficult to enjoy, this is a marvelous way to bring that beloved garlic flavor back into the kitchen.
And we're not being shy about it.
Five heads.
This is The Nomad Kitchen. We came to eat. 😂
🥄 What Do You Put It On?
Almost anything savory.
Spoon it over grilled chicken, steak, salmon, shrimp or roasted fish. Toss it through roasted potatoes, vegetables or warm pasta. Spread it on crusty bread. Spoon it over eggs. Swirl it into soups. Put it on sandwiches. Add it to grain bowls. Mix it into mayonnaise, sour cream or Greek yogurt for an instant dressing or dip.
It would also be spectacular spooned over:
burrata + tomatoes + crusty bread.
That may require its own recipe.
🌿 Farmer's Market Magic
This is also a beautiful end-of-the-week farmers-market recipe.
You know those glorious bunches of herbs that are enormous, fragrant and inexpensive because somebody's garden has suddenly decided to produce enough parsley for the entire county?
Buy them.
If a gardening friend hands you a ridiculous armful of herbs, take them.
When basil, cilantro and parsley are overflowing, this sauce turns that abundance into something you'll actually use.
That is very much what The Nomad Kitchen is about:
Use what is beautiful. Waste very little. Make something extraordinary.
🫙 Storage
Spoon the pesto into a clean glass jar and cover the surface with a thin layer of olive oil.
Refrigerate and use within approximately 5–7 days.
The flavor may actually deepen after the first day as the garlic, herbs, citrus, honey and vinegar mingle.
For longer storage, freeze portions in small containers or ice-cube trays and thaw as needed.
🌿🧄🍋 Nomad Kitchen Notes
No nuts required. No Parmesan required. No raw garlic required.
That's intentional.
Traditional pesto is magnificent, but this isn't trying to be traditional pesto.
It's a bright, garden-heavy condiment designed to go everywhere.
And because there are no nuts or cheese, you're not automatically steering it toward Italian food. It can wander quite happily through Mediterranean, California, Latin-inspired, grilled seafood, vegetable and even Middle Eastern dishes.
